Infinite Magic (Dragon's Gift: The Huntress Book 5) by Linsey Hall Page A

more metal on the door. Probably because Aidan had more brute strength than me. They weren’t taking any chances with the Origin.
    “Mind if I borrow your power?” I asked.
    “Go ahead.”  
    I touched the widest metal strip that bisected the door and connected to the lock, then reached out for Amara’s magic. It felt warm against my skin, and as soon as I had a grip on it, I also felt like I could feel all the metal in the door. Not just the stuff under my fingertips, but all the pieces that were nailed to the other side of the wood as well.
    I pushed the magic out of me, concentrating on melting the strips of metal. A second later, the metal liquefied and poured to the ground in a rush.
    Amara and I both leapt back to avoid being splashed by the molten iron.
    “Wow,” Amara said. “You’re strong.”
    “Yeah.” I hadn’t expected to melt it so quickly. It’d taken Amara almost a minute to melt the metal on my door. I’d done it in a second. “You okay?”
    She nodded. “I didn’t get burned.’
    “Good.” I pushed open the door to Aidan’s cell, careful not to touch any part of the wood where the iron had been for fear that it might be hot.
    As soon as the door swung open, Aidan stepped into the doorway, then jumped over the melted metal and joined us in the hall.
    “I thought that might be you,” he said. His gaze dropped to Amara. “You came to save us?”
    “Yep.” She grinned, revealing a missing tooth.
    “Good lass.” He rubbed her head. “I’ll send you a present as a thank you. How does a pony sound?”
    “How about a remote control helicopter?” Her eyes gleamed.
    “Done.”
    “Thanks!” Her eyes turned thoughtful. “Address it to my room. I think I’m going to be grounded a while.”
    “It’s a deal,” Aidan said. “Now tell us, are there any other exits from Glencarrough?”
    “No, just the gate.”
    “Anything small?” I asked. “A place that rats might sneak in, maybe?”
    She screwed up her face as she thought. “There are rats in the kitchens. I like to leave them cheese. I think they come in through the pantry. It’s against the main wall, so there might be a way out from there. If you were a rat.”
    “Good thing I can turn into a rat, then,” Aidan said. “Now you run along. Maybe you won’t get in trouble for this if you aren’t caught.”
    She looked down at the molten metal. “No one else can do that. So they’ll know it was me.”
    “Thank you extra much, then,” Aidan said. “I’ll send you two helicopters.”
    She grinned. “You’d better go.”
    We hurried down the dungeon hall to the stairs.  
    I perked my ears, calling upon my heightened senses. When I heard no one coming, I said, “Let’s get to the top of the stairs. Then we’ll shift into mice. Amara, could you lead us to the kitchen?”
    She nodded. “Yeah.”
    We climbed the stairs silently. At the top, Aidan mouthed, “Now?”
    I nodded.  
    A swirl of silver gray light shimmered around him, then he disappeared. I looked down. At my feet sat a tiny gray mouse. I called on my Mirror Mage powers, reaching out for Aidan’s gift. I grasped ahold of it, smelling the forest scent of his magic, and envisioned myself turning into a mouse as well.  
    Magic warmed me from within, filling up my limbs. Suddenly, I was falling, the walls flashing in front of me. Or I was shrinking rapidly. A moment later, I looked down and saw tiny mouse feet tipped with transparent claws. Next to me, a gray mouse twitched his nose.
    Aidan was a bigger mouse than I, but not by much. Amara loomed overhead.
    “Ready?” she asked.
    I nodded, then scrambled up over the stone stair, digging my claws into the minuscule crevices in the rock. Amara pushed the door open to reveal a wide hallway. It wasn’t as ornately decorated as the one we’d walked through before.
    Good. That meant we weren’t in the main part of the house. Amara headed right, walking quickly down the hall, her ragged bunny slapping against